Atari: Game Over Documentary Review - Pat & James Rolfe

[@JamesNintendoNerd]

Thanks for doing this review with James! Hopefully someday they will actually find the millions of ET carts! - Mike

[@iknowtrevsupahyup]

Mike ! What is up

[@karenelizabeth1590]

♥ you mike! I saw you at SGC 2014 and you're a gentleman.

[@legoflyingpig]

Can I have some?

[@ShadowJax04]

MF Mike.

[@shipped_my_pants_3000]

Nobody asked you for your opinion, Mike.

[@N00biePwner]

"This video will be up by the time you're watching it." - Pat Contri, 2014.

[@PatTheNESpunk]

But it's true!

[@krowman8458]

Pat the NES Punk I didn't even know who you were until the AVGN featured you and im soo glad he put me onto you! Im a brand new fan and have alot of material to catch up on of yours lol I have one request if you and/or James could review Ghoul School! It was one of my favorite Hidden NES gems of all time growing up. I would love your take and opinion on it. Thanks an Keep up the awesome videos!

[@johnnybensonitis7853]

I like how everything Pat uploads is interesting. Anytime someone asks me anything video games related I direct them to his channel.

[@brpadington]

I think Pat's hair looks like that because of the constant Jetliners that fly over his house blowing high speed heated air. These conditions cause the Nerd-fro.

[@hurddude]

These two feel natural to me, like long time friends I could listen to you guys talk for hours.

[@JsRetroVideoGames]

In the documentary, they said that ET only made up 10% of the games that they found. But they forgot to add that they only dug up 1,300 of the 700,000 games that were buried there. There might have been 600,000 ET games that they didn't dig up.

[@teamrealnew3827]

It's collaborations like this that make me proud to be a gamer.

[@Theealterego]

Hell yeah

[@gundam833]

It is really awesome to see these two work together! :-)

[@ChipRichey]

Really enjoyed this! Pat, you should bring James into a couple of the episodes of the podcast!

[@countingtelescopes]

Yea, I found the "Incident at Loch Ness" to be interesting, but then again with Herzog on board I'm not surprised.

[@ShanonGallaFoe]

Time to find the missing swordquest prizes!

[@maggs131]

One of the 2 actual winners and recipients of the treasure admitted selling his item for scrap to pay for college. He should be flogged

[@DukensteinA1]

I love James and Pat coming together.

[@stncldrwg]

Great conversation guys. I'd love to see you guys discuss other video game movies/documentaries. Hopefully your schedules would allow something like that down the road. Keep up the great work!

[@NeutronNeutopian13]

I always enjoy watching you two collaborate on projects and reviews.

[@rickjames9477]

Dumping was the way it was done back then, Kawasaki did the same thing when they got rid of their snowmobile division. Dumped the craziest race sleds in a hole in Nebraska

[@smeepUCA]

Pat looks like he about to walk onto the 'To Catch a Predator' set

[@Asterra2]

James gets big props for getting his movie out before the documentary. I admit that I never expected the entire audio side of things to be completed in just a couple of short months. Yes, anyone who has paid attention knows that the AVGN movie has been in the works for many years, but being able to say that it truly did get shown first gives it that seal of legitimacy.

[@RubberWilbur]

These certified ET cartridges are selling on Ebay for over $1000. The ones that were not in the landfield purchased by suckers like myself in 1982-93 (yes I'm that old) sell for $3 on Ebay. The reason I bought it at my local K-Mart was because well known games were sold out like Defender. For those who have some curiosity on what the game was like....it sucked, it really really sucked. $25 was a hell of a lot of money especially for a poor 10 year old kid in the mountains of VA in 1982. The whole industry deserved to go down for what they did to me.

[@jonnie2bad]

The game isn't bad. It was well made all things considered and if you actually read the manual it told you what to do. If you think e.t. is a bad game then you must have only had a handful of games.

[@carlosg815]

James and Pat are a great team. It's nice seeing to see James not getting cut off by Mike or Pat being talked over by Ian. Imagine the CU podcast with james and pat or James and Pat mondays? It's a dream team of retro gaming.

[@caprilaser3]

Pat, you and James should do more videos together! Looking forward to seeing more on this. Also, Pat, have you forgotten about the m82 carts we messaged about?

[@GoreINHUMANREMNANTS]

The title makes it sound like Pat and James are married. Im cool with that.

[@harmleyten4]

haha true

[@SoulforSale]

they're not?

[@wompastompa3692]

Damn I like James' sideburns.

[@karenelizabeth1590]

Pat's hair has deflated since we last saw it

[@PolisKanin]

I think it'll puff back up after it's washed and dried, or at least hope he hasn't cut it.

[@kingkold]

Love the little delayed reaction on pat when James mentions an Atari mind link lol

[@davistalhone9482]

Pat's best work is when he's being real.. James certainly brings out the best in him IMO anyway.

[@DDBurnett1]

14:53 Damn, a plane actually flew over my house when he said that.

[@TheInternetIsDeadToMe]

Great review. You to have a great chemistry. There needs to be more of you two making videos and generally talking.

[@JsRetroVideoGames]

I looked up this documentary on KZbin. Most of the one's I found weren't in English. I finally found one that was in English but there was a big glare on the screen as if it was recorded off an old tube TV.

[@KnowYourVideoGames]

I was at the dig site. 5000 Atari Mindlinks where disposed of at the site. There were other options Atari could have done, such as donating the games to orginizations such as Goodwill.

[@cygil1]

Dumping that amount of inventory on the market all at once would have killed their sales completely. Digging that hole was Atari's way of digging themselves out of the hole. Wasteful, to be sure, but it makes perfect business sense.

[@Zikthepoo]

That was a great vid! I don't think I have been that locked into a vid in a long time. Can not wait to see this movie...and the Nerd Movie!

[@GallowglassAxe]

I would like to know what's in that pile. Maybe they'll find the missing Swordquest: Air World game. That would be incredible!

[@MaximilianEnVT]

Sealed copies of ET with the box and manuals in sealed boxes which were covered in slabs of concrete to stop people from looting them, as well as any other surplus games and equipment they didnt need. and i dont think Air was even made.

[@GallowglassAxe]

Horus998 From what I heard is that it was possibly in development during the crash. Water had just been released but the crash happened before the tournament. Its conceivable they would have thrown the prototype away with everything else.

[@Tornado1994]

Swordquest WAS the final BIG game release of 1983 before the entire market imploded.

[@Tornado1994]

Gallowglass Also, 2600 games and consoles WERE still being sold during '84. Just in supermakets and retail bargin bins.

[@vilekyle22]

I love the Motorhead and the "This vid will be up by the time your watching it" quote by Pat. I think you guys are the best and worthy of a wedggie by anyone's standard.

[@thewoosp2782]

more vids together, you are both far better when together than with your sidekicks!

[@RetroEjit]

Awesome seeing you two guys shooting the shit! Two of the most genuine guys on this entire site! :)

[@omegarugal9283]

11:00 ATARI could have reused the plastic cases and PCBs (not the mask ROM of course) to make other games that could actually sell but there were bleeding to death at that point so it was not an option...

[@pingKING94]

Tax write off, have to destroy the items

[@TedKennedyX]

How about Combat? Was that in the landfill? You know, Combat.

[@euducationator]

well, combat came with every atari, and since atari consoles were down there as well, most likely.

[@brianschwartz1372]

With the tanks tttttttttttttttt boom, things go boom.

[@chancedamont6939]

I don't know these guys, but they seem to have one of the best partnerships I've ever witnessed.

[@caliklepto1316]

1:59 why did James say “wow”?

[@arlenburgin2392]

Mmm hmm

[@shibez]

2 of youtubes biggest classic video game reviewers together..Awesome Sauceeeee

[@ElBribri]

Do you guys remember the Quest games? were real life tresures could be earned? there needs to be a documentary about it, and were those trerasures are right now

[@kingkold]

Thanks for putting this up, I really enjoyed this documentary .

[@burrri]

this seriously is good. best duo on youtube hands down

[@joekerr1763]

Watch it for yourselves for free @ vimeo.com Attaching links is prohibited on Pat's channel for whatever reason(s) so I couldn't paste it for you guys. Sorry.

[@GetWellGamers]

I was there! Wish I'd known you were in the audience, I'd have loved to grab an autograph. :) I was the guy who'd brought the old 2600 to get it signed for a charity auction. :)

[@eekeek433]

Great interview, more like that would be great and refreshing. Great Job :)

[@DSDMovies]

If they are still editing it, hopefully they might incorporate the suggestions about the movie made in this video.

[@WintersLair]

totally agree , best part of this doc was the back story about the guy who made the ET game

[@CoinOpTV]

Cool man - look forward to seeing it - have Once Upon Atari on DVD - good stuff!

[@thedarklordsknigh]

hey i know you

[@GamingHistorySource]

This was an awesome video ! :D I really enjoyed this guys ! :D keep it up.

[@AizensPlan]

My biggest gripe with the AVGN movie was that at the very end the Nerd was playing E.T. and was like "Meh this game actually isn't that bad". After years and years of saying it was the worst game ever, that felt like a slap in the face. I mean there were even Nerd episodes where he'd look at the game and be like "No that's too awful to play even for me".

[@Insidegamingonline242]

Great review guys. Great chemistry between you both. And also this is what gaming is about!

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

I want to make an important note before anyone jumps to conclusions. Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. It was always expected this would have some traditional documentary. It might even get a few movies. Whatever movie Mr Rolfe has made is for entertainment purposes. To dramatise and satire and to finally give E.T the big AVGN treatment. To do his own take. I will still be looking forward/ enjoy watching it no matter how many others get on board the E.T train, because no single major historical event has only one movie. There is nothing to worry about. He's done a lot, and it will be quite a fun fest to watch. Good work guys talking about this and good luck with the public release of yours Mr Rolfe.

[@CripticX]

The guys at the theatre were probably saying " can we screen any movies that aren't about that damn Atari burial?!!"

[@Ofisil]

2 of the very few people on the web that actually seem like very good guys...

[@OldSchoolGamer1981]

Nice to see y'all together once agin! Very cool!!, All the main stream BS I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels out of the loop on this. I will be checking back with you guys to see the real story. Keep it up!

[@zero0karaoke]

Pat and James! Right at the forefront! Makin' it happen

[@DarylDoesShow]

Been very interested in seeing this film since it was announced. As a collector it is quite the piece of video game history. Nice to hear it's more on the side of what the process was as opposed to just simply the dig. Can't wait :)

[@Cchapz]

Please do more videos together. You are a good team.

[@junybuckles7927]

Not sure why I haven't ever seen this video. But I want more, this was fantastic

[@sigma1932]

What game is shown in the small window at 3:43? It's bugging me that I can't remember the name of it...

[@breakfastmachinearchive8]

I liked the documentary a lot but I something that bothers me is when Earnest Cline drops in and casually mentions he's on his way to loan his Delorean to George R. R. Martin. Like, hold the fuck on, George R. R. Martin apparently needed to borrow a time machine for something and you're making a movie about some buried video games? There is clearly a better story to be told here!

[@cyberpunkholiday]

I should have already subscribed to Nes Punk and now after watching this great collaboration...why didnt I? I love both of you guys. You both have very sound dynamics to the videos you put out and....ugh, Im stupid. Thank you for this video. *SUBSCRIBED

[@Thrakus]

You guys should so do a talk on the change in how we view a game 1982 vs 2014 like Value we place on it

[@drud-dh4ev]

People have already said that some of the ET carts that were found still work

[@erwinbob1]

The next movie in the series should be game competitions. They could do an entire movie on Swordquest (try to find the last two prizes) and once again link the fact that the competitions were never finished to the video game crash of 83. Or whatever.

[@Videocipher]

Excellent review guys, Pat, you and James play well off each other, To bad he couldent do the podcasts with you and Ian

[@gundam833]

Would be awesome too if Pat had James in one of his Pod cast with him and Ian! :-)

[@nrrork]

I remember the ending being kinda spoiled for me because I read in the news about how they found the cartridges. >_

[@unfortunatewitnessX]

9:57 There's Mickey again! What's going on!?!

[@drainedeyes4268]

Was that the back of Doug and Rob Walker in that first photo at the panel?

[@MrPrice-rl3id]

What's that weird text at the top, on the games? Skyrim dragon language? Or just lights reflecting off plastic...

[@XtraXllence]

Code Monkeys did an episode about the E.T video game. I think it's episode 2? I think the show pokes fun at the theory of what happened to the game apposed to actual facts.

[@XtraXllence]

www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70150237&trkid=3325854

[@memyopinionsche6610]

The one question I would have is. If Atari had true time as not 3 months but a year or two. to develop the game could they make ET great again? Just a question.

[@Vgcritic]

awesome video! Keep up the great work.

[@akaimizu1]

Shame they didn't take the storage option. Put it in some unmarked boxes and place it in a deep underground shelter. Sent over by Top Men. Who? Top ......... .Men...... On a serious note: I would love for them to do a documentary that detailed the fall of the Commodore Company. It's not only a very important piece of history, but many companies and shareholders can watch it and really learn some important lessons from it.

[@soawkwardshow]

How sweaty is Pat? Great review, guys!

[@FunkyPertwee]

You guys make an awesome team!

[@bitdgamer3891]

James got the Mötörhead shirt, have you heard Acid King ? Trippy heavy cool stoner metal

[@josh24441]

I saw Motörhead with dio and iron maiden. Awesome show :)

[@madestmadhatter]

were there consoles at that specific dump sight? If so did they try to plug it in or play any of the games that they found?

[@dr.bluebox1136]

Loved the abrupt ending.

[@Firestar4342]

I got James to sign my copy of ET during SGC

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Mark warshof bad spelling I know but if he had a good amount of time with technology of early 80s and late 70's can make a better ET GAME?

[@bryede]

The main reason that stuff was dumped was because they had more inventory than the market could bear and so they took a tax write off on it. You then have to destroy the stuff because you can't legally make any profit on it and also so it doesn't 'accidentally' turn up on the market again (which means you'd be competing against inventory no one bought from you).

[@memyopinionsche6610]

I am sure it won't happen because of copyright issues. But god dame that would be interesting thing to happen.

[@AustNerevar]

This is strange, because the final version of Atari: Game Over DID NOT have original John Williams music.

[@colliric]

The sequel should be "Nintendo: Press Start" and be about the Nintendo World Championships.

[@WH250398]

Lol that's actually a pretty cool title

[@lamellama22]

Any idea if they are going to continue doing these? After saying they were laying off those 18,000 people, part of that was their Xbox "Original" division as well, or whatever it's called, so I had heard. www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2014/jul14/07-17announcement1.aspx

[@clarenceboddicker6679]

Jesus at the start of the video that guy on the right looked so tense and nervous. James looked totally relaxed and calm but the other guy was a bundle of nerves. Within a minute or two he relaxed and became at ease aswell though.

[@PatTheNESpunk]

"That guy on the right." You mean the guy who uploaded the video? I was going on minimal sleep and was exhausted.

[@mikebryant3818]

Pat the NES Punk you looked fine to me.

[@Powerhouse1]

Yeah I read that pac-man was also in there along with ET and a few other commercial failures of Atari. I also wonder what else in in there.

[@GammaCatch]

Great analysis!

[@MJisLove4life]

I Knew About The Video Game Crash And I Wasnt Even Born Before That Happened. Im A 90's Baby. Born In 94. But I Knew About The E.T. Game But I Never Thought It Being Burreid Was Actually True. I Read About It A Few Times When I Was 12 But I Never Wanted To Believe It And Then Later On Down The Line It Wouldnt Be True. You Know What I Mean??? But When The Landfill Was Digged Up And The E.T. Cartridge Were Unearthed Then I Knew It Was Real. I Would Love to See This Documentry. It Looks Really Intresting. And Once It Comes Out I Know Alot Of Adults That Were Growing Up In The 80's Will Start Reminencing When It Happened. So Yeah. But To Be Honest I Would Like To Play E.T. For Atari 2600, Yeah I Know Its Awful But I Would Like To just Play It And Experience The God Awful Game Lol.

[@roachqueen32]

So did James actually sleep over at Pat's place? That just sounds adorable

[@jaym5118]

I know it was only based on Atari and the landfill burial. But you'd think they would have mentioned Nintendo somewhere in it. But nope, not even one mention (aside from a couple photos). After all, Nintendo is the ones that brought BACK the game industry and saved it. Also, Atari is still making games even today. Why did they not mention that? They talk like Atari died forever. But they didn't. They might not be the same Atari as they used to be, but they ARE still around.

[@TecDax]

+Jay M Well, there is a big Xbox logo on the poster, so...

[@joekerr1763]

+Jay M - I'm not in total agreement with your comment about "Nintendo brought BACK the game industry". After all, the Video Game Industry was primarily based on the Arcade culture and ultimately remained successful throughout the turn of the 21st century. That Nintendo brought BACK the _home_ _console_ Video Game Industry is a more accurate statement. "Hadouken"!

[@jaym5118]

+Joe Kerr Well, I'm sure most people knew what I meant.

[@joekerr1763]

Jay M - Okay, Jay.

[@RetroGameCrusader]

awesome review and glad its more into what happend than what everyone already knows. They might do The end of Dreamcast in more detail that would be awesome

[@markbotelho1257]

What were some of the other titles found?

[@nessorceress8150]

MOTÖRHEAD!! Awesome shirt James🤘🏻

[@kingkold]

Great chemistry here

[@joekerr1763]

IKR. No nitpicking by babble-mouth, sentence interrupting, MF Mike. I would like to witness the potential chemistry between Mike & Ian, that would be an interesting watch.

[@kingkold]

+JoE Kerr that would be interesting actually

[@yoa2k247]

Love these guys.

[@gluserty]

Well, at least the dig sounds cooler than the discovery of Al Capone's vault.

[@andrewflaherty148]

I love the angry video game nerd you watch him too :)

[@gluserty]

fluffy puppy Oh yeah, all the time. Do you subscribe to his Cinemassacre.com site and view the weekly "James and Mike Play..." ? Interestingly enough, since the recent video of that series was James and Mike playing the 1988 NES "Batman" game part 1, and that got me to review James' "Bat-a-Thon" review. As of right now, since nothing else is interesting me from my other subscriptions, I'm rewatching AVGN episodes that are presented in higher quality. Right now I'm viewing the SEGA 32X video.

[@andrewflaherty148]

***** all I did was subscribe to his channel

[@gluserty]

fluffy puppy Oh. I think that website has a good layout (that can't be said about every website) and you can view the recent videos sooner instead of waiting for them to be uploaded to KZbin.

[@andrewflaherty148]

***** I guess I can give it a shot